Kierre Beckles Paces Gamecocks In NYC
Senior hurdler takes fifth in 60m hurdle championship
NEW
YORK CITY – South Carolina senior Kierre Beckles set the example for
Curtis Frye’s youth-laden team Friday at the New Balance Collegiate in
being the first Gamecock to qualify and place in a championship final
at the first premier meet of the indoor season.
A two-time
All-American last year with citations in both the 60-meter hurdles and
the 100-meter hurdles, Beckles ran 8.28 in both the prelims and finals
of the 60-meter hurdle championship Friday night to place fifth overall
in the event. Running out of lane three, Beckles matched her
preliminary time late Friday night in the final to take fifth after
originally placing third in the prelims. Freshman Chalese Davis placed
24th overall in the prelims at 8.62.
“We still have a young
team,” Frye said. “We had a great recruiting class (come in), but those
freshmen are still freshmen. It wasn’t a great day, but Kierre making
finals in the hurdles was great.”
Sophomore Amber Allen was the
other Gamecock to earn a bid to a final section after placing fifth
overall in the women’s 400-meter dash college section at a season best
time of 56.20. The final will be run Saturday at 4:17 p.m. Freshman
Tamera Harris also ran a season best in the event, 56.99, to finish
13th overall in her first collegiate appearance at The Armory.
In
the men’s 500-meter dash, freshman Juan Stenner won his heat and placed
sixth overall with a time of 1:05.03. Sophomore Nejmi Burnside, who ran
in the same heat, placed 12th overall at 1:05.53.
Dorian Johnson
hit a personal best in the men’s long jump college section with a leap
of 22’8 ¾ (6.93m) to place eighth overall in the event.
Freshman
Ahtyana Johnson’s return to her home state produced a season best for
the Bayside, N.Y., native. Johnson ran 24.93 in the 200-meter dash
college section to take 14th overall. On the men’s side in the same
event, Chris Maxwell won his heat at 25.16 to place 11th overall.
Sophomore
Clayton Gravesande placed 12th overall in the men’s 400-meter
championship section at 48.09, narrowly missing out on the finals.
Junior Andre Carter took 25th at 49.00. In the college section of the
event, freshman Eric Winfrey placed 24th at 49.69.
The Gamecock
women’s shot putters posted two season bests in back-to-back finishes
by Katie Vuckovich and Breanna Radford. Vuckovich placed 11th overall
at 48’3 ¼ (14.71m), and Radford took 12th at 47’9 ¼ (14.56m). Senior
Stacee Roberts placed 22nd overall at 45’6 ½ (13.88m).
A trio of
Gamecock women competed in the 400-meter championship section with
freshman Erika Rucker leading the way with a time of 55.90 to place
23rd. Nadonnia Rodriques ran 56.19 (28th) in her return to her
hometown, and freshman Christal Green ran 57.06 to place 40th.
Chris
Royster took 18th overall in the 60-meter dash championship section at
6.84. Freshman Damiere Byrd was disqualified by a false start in his
first appearance at the New Balance Collegiate. In the women’s 60-meter
championship section, Vashti Bandy and Asia Delaney both competed for
the Gamecocks with Bandy running 7.72 and Delaney running 7.85.
A
pair of seniors competed in the men’s and women’s 60-meter dash college
sections with Kelsey McCorkle taking 38th in the women’s section at
7.87 and Chris Maxwell taking 40th in the men’s section at 7.17. In the
first men’s event of the day, Chris Sharp placed 26th in the 60-meter
hurdles at 8.90.
Freshman Megan Wall cleared a season best 11’3 ¾ (3.45m) in the women’s pole vault college section to take 29th overall.
In the women’s 1000-meter championship, Liz Locke ran 3:03.55 to take 55th in the large field.
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